


Workouts and Wisdom

by jedichick04



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: 2x04 Crucible, Arrow Summer Rewatch, Brooding Oliver Alert, F/M, Friendship, missing moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 15:44:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4269012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedichick04/pseuds/jedichick04
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By the time Oliver made it down the stairs to the Foundry, he'd already resigned himself to hours of working out. Missing moment from 2x04.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Workouts and Wisdom

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Arrow Summer Rewatch. This is set directly after the scene where Sara shows up at Verdant to have a chat with Oliver, only to be interrupted by her father's visit to Oliver.

By the time Oliver made it down the stairs to the Foundry, he'd already resigned himself to hours of working out.

He pulled off his jacket and shirt and heading for the training dummies, almost immediately starting to pound on them. His mind was heavy with thoughts of the Lances--Laurel's spiraling behavior, her father's plea for Oliver to talk to her, Sara's sudden reappearance and conviction that her family didn't need to know she was alive.

Sara's reappearance shook him the most. He had been  _sure_ she was dead, when he saw her get swept out to sea a second time. Now she was another person in his life that he'd failed, another reminder of his past that would never stop haunting him, another sign that he couldn't fix all the things he'd broken that day he'd decided to go with his father on the  _Queen's Gambit_. If he couldn't fix things with people, what gave him the idea that he could fix things in his city? What good was he really doing? What--

His brooding was promptly interrupted by a yelp.

"Oh, _frack_! When did you get here?"

He turned to face the area of the Foundry he'd come to think of as Felicity's, with its row of computers and monitors and other techy things that were purely her domain. Felicity herself was in her chair, hand currently pressed to her heart like she was trying to keep it from leaping out of her chest. Earbuds were dangling out of her other hand, and she was staring at him, waiting for an answer to her question. 

He took a quick breath and a step closer to her. "Just a few minutes ago. I needed to--" And he gestured to the mats.

"A lot on your mind?" she asked as she set her earbuds aside and spun her chair around more fully. She tilted her head slightly. "I can only imagine, what with the Mayor and the guns for cash event you decided to personally fund and--this is my personal favorite--the whole, person you thought was dead who really isn't and she happens to also be a kickass vigilante."

Despite himself, he felt his lips twitch into the beginning of a smile. "Kickass vigilante?"

"She's been taking down misogynistic criminals. I still think we should be sending her thank you cards and a bouquet of flowers," Felicity replied, warming to the topic. "Not that you don't take down other criminals that are probably misogynistic, I mean. But she's specifically targeting them, and I'm all for that." She stopped talking abruptly, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Oliver could almost hear her counting down to herself to stop her babbling, and the lip twitch deepened for a moment. Her eyes flew back open, bright behind her glasses, holding his gaze steadily as she spoke. "Is there going to be a welcome home party on the calendar any time soon?"

"I don't know," Oliver said honestly, glancing up at the ceiling and thinking of Sara's expression when he'd asked if she had been hoping he'd told her family she was alive. "Sara was here. Before I came down here. She was checking if I'd told her family." He shook his head. "Then her father turned up, worried about Laurel, and by the time I was done talking to him, Sara had disappeared."

Felicity didn't offer any comment, just nodded at his words and listened. And something about that made Oliver feel comfortable enough to admit,"I don't know what to do."

She was quiet for another few moments, long enough that Oliver almost turned back to his workout. But then she spoke up. "If it was your family, would you want them to know you were alive and back in town?" She gave him a gentle smile that told him she knew the answer to that question, but she didn't make him answer before she continued on. "You can't force her to take a step she's not ready to take. But you  _can_  encourage her, if you think it's the right thing." She smiled more fully. "You know, if she decides she wants to talk to you again. She might have better things to do with her time."

"Like take down more misogynists?" he asked dryly.

Felicity nodded and smiled, her blonde ponytail bouncing with the movement. "I knew you would catch on eventually." A beep sounded from one of the computers, and she casually waved a hand back behind her. "I should probably get back to work. Don't let me stop you from breaking a few more dummies. Digg said the new order will be in tomorrow."

Oliver nodded, stepping back to the mats as Felicity spun back around--this time leaving out her earbuds. He lost himself in the familiar burn of exercise and training, but his thoughts were already more settled, just from talking to Felicity. He left a few hours later, to seek out Laurel like he told her father he would. And when the opportunity came to talk to Sara again--he took it, encouraging her to make the right choice, to tell her family, but not making her choice for her. 

The right path had always been there. Sometimes, it just took a good friend to nudge you in the right direction.


End file.
